'Extreme Drought' Conditions In CT: Here's What You Need To Know

CONNECTICUT — The eastern part of Connecticut has moved into an extreme drought, while the rest of the state continues to experience severe and moderate drought conditions.

Gov. Ned Lamont declared a stage 3 drought in New London and Windham counties at the suggestion of the state Interagency Drought Working Group.

“Connecticut continues to experience the impacts of climate change with this exceptionally dry summer, and while the entire state is experiencing drought conditions, we are seeing the most severe of those conditions right now in the areas of New London and Windham counties," Lamont said in a statement.

The group recommended that the six other counties remain in stage 2 drought for now.

Here are five things to know about Connecticut’s drought:

What is Connecticut’s current drought condition?

Extreme drought conditions are now affecting the majority of Windham County and the eastern part of New London County, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. About 13 percent of the entire state is in extreme drought conditions as of Aug. 16, and 75 percent is in severe or extreme conditions.

“Despite a few small areas of moderate rain, most of the dry areas in the Northeast Region saw little or no precipitation,” The U.S. Drought Monitor said in a statement. “This prompted drought intensification and expansion westward away from near-coastal southeastern New England.”

Rainfall has been 2 to 5 inches below normal during the past 60 days.

Extreme drought conditions typically cause widespread crop loss and dry wells. Demand for drilling deeper wells increases. Wildlife disease outbreak also increases.

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What is Connecticut doing about the drought?

The state interagency group declared a statewide stage 2 drought in July and asked for residents and businesses to voluntarily conserve water. Connecticut’s drought scale has five levels.

Stage 3 mandates state-owned facilities to reduce water use. Water suppliers would also have to prepare for mandatory conservation measures, but there are no state-mandated conservation measures imposed on residents.

Mandatory conservation would begin in a stage 4 drought, and would include bans on sprinkler system use.

The state recommends the following to reduce water use:

• Reduce, to the extent possible, the watering of lawns, recreational and athletic fields, gardens, or other landscaped areas (if watering is essential, late evening hours are best)
• Avoid burning in or near woodlands or brushlands
• Report dry fire/irrigation ponds or private wells to municipal drought liaisons or regional emergency management liaisons
• Postpone the planting of any new lawns or vegetation
• Minimize overall water use by fixing leaky plumbing and fixtures
• Take shorter showers
• Run dishwashers and clothes washing machines with full loads
• Shut off water while washing dishes, shaving, brushing teeth, and lathering up to wash hands, rather than running the water continuously
• Avoid washing vehicles or power-washing homes and other buildings
• Do not use water to clean sidewalks, driveways, and roads
• Do not use public water to fill residential swimming pools

How are drought levels determined?

Connecticut’s drought stage system is based on the U.S. Drought Monitor level, along with other metrics tied to precipitation, groundwater availability and reservoir capacity.

The interagency group meets periodically to assess drought conditions and make recommendations to Gov. Ned Lamont.

What is the recent drought history in Connecticut?

Connecticut has entered the stage two five times in the past two decades: 2002, 2007, 2010, 2016 and 2020.

Most recently, four counties entered stage 3 in 2020.

What have water companies done to conserve water?

The 2016-2017 extreme drought prompted Aquarion Water Company to institute twice-weekly limits on sprinkler irrigation for some towns served by the company. The twice-weekly rules have remained in effect.

The Regional Water Authority has also asked its customers to voluntarily conserve water.